All grown up now!

Wow has it been nearly 7 months since I last wrote?

Anyway, big big news. I got engaged to Ellen over the weekend. I took her to Rome for a long weekend and proposed on the steps on the Pantheon (impressive building in Rome).

Really strange (but great) feeling, I think I have been through one of life's big events.... this ranks up there with getting married and having kids.... I think. I shudder to think that those events will be even more nerve wracking.... and I think they will be!!

Defo growing up... I have hit 30, started to play squash and golf and now gotten engaged... yup, I'm heading for mid-life rapidly!

Where to go for hols?

Was originally going to go to Sharm El Sheik for diving hols in Oct, but given recent events we are seriously reconsidering. I know its bad to "let the terrorists win", but car bombers in the tourist area is serious stuff.

We may still go to Egypt, but to a quieter resort... the diving in the Red Sea is supposed to be excellent.

Been shopping mad

Wow, just spent about 300 quid in 3 ouse clicks. I seem to hardly ever buy anything in a traditional shop anymore. What did I buy?

1, PC parts - new case, motherboard and CPU. Hopefully the motherboard and CPU will fix my old computer (lying in the shed at the moment) and the new case will make it look new so I can give it to Dad as his Birthday present - hehehe.

2, New car stereo - Pioneer DEH-7700MP. My old car stereo doesn't work at all now, this one is an upgraded version which plays MP3s and WAV files. Good for nicking Ellen's MP3 collection and putting onto my car.

3, A "Handirack" - saw this in Autocar. Its basically an inflatable roof rack to fit any car with much less hassle than a traditional metal one. I mainly want to use it for transporting a long ladder so I can finally hack down the massive vine growing up the side of my house. I'm sure it'll be useful for other things as well, hey, it's only 30 quid!


hmm... credit card bill arrived this morning.... 3 pages worth of transactions! That bonus can't come quickly enough!!

Bad luck day

Not a great day today. Lost at cards, stuck in traffic for hours, then some guy hits my car!! Luckily there was no damage, but I'll have a look tomorrow. I have the guy's number just in case.

Bestest best best ever!

LOL - maybe I am getting old but all this talk of bestest GF/wife/husband ever is so amusingly sweet....

A sad sad day

A day like no other. I cannot believe what happened in London this morning. I have never experienced anything like it and never wish to again. Whilst I was fortunately safe several hunded miles away, friends and loved ones where literally at the heart of all the trouble, but fortunately all are safe and well.

I won't forget this state of shock and disbelief. Heartfelt wishes to those much more badly affected than myself.

Other highlights for me

Thinking about it, there were some other gr8 moments at Live 8:

- Ricky Gervais, getting forced by the crowd to do "that dance" from The Office. Then everyone going "der der der der dun dun......der der der der dun dun"

- Brad Pitt turning up, amazing how mnay girls suddenly climbed on top of someone's shoulders to get a better look.

- Seeing Bill Gates (classic IT geek, but has donated £5bn to charity!), Kofi Anan and David Beckham

- Lenny Henry - "Whoooo gives you extra?"... massive marketing for Halifax!

but Robbie still did it for me. 150,000 people going crazy, even the olds. The man is a legend.

Live 8

Woo Hoo!!

Just got back from Live 8. Loved the experience. In short:

Best bits:

- Robbie Williams - amazing stuff. All 150k people were jumping about!
- Scissor Sisters
- Snow Patrol
- Travis
- Killers
- Sting
- Dido
- Coldplay

Not so great:
- Queues for the toilets - not due to the lack of toilets, but because the entrance was too small!
- Joss Stone - the crowd were getting cold/tired & didn't respond to her new songs
- The Who - exactly
- Pink Floyd - I'm sure some people love them, just not me nor Ellen!

Actually it was good that we left after Robbie. Made for a great finish for us. Saw the finale on telly and it didn't seem all that. At least it meant that we were able to beat the crowds to get a taxi home!

Quick update on me me me

So what has been happening with me since I last Blogged in earnest? When did I last Blog again (apart from earlier this evening you bunch of smarty pants)?

Oh ok, some rubbish about reality TV, eBay and me looking like Beckham, I mean Beckham looking like me. Actually we're about the same kinda age.

Major news this week was that my cousin and Auntie were attacked in their takeaway. Details still sketchy, but my Auntie was beaten unconscious and tied up in the basement, and my 19 year old cousin was stabbed 12 times. Luckily I am very relieved to say that they are both ok now, badly shaken up obviously and the Police actually seem to be doing some decent investigating.

Workwise, I've been going to and from Windsor and Edinburgh for work. Lots of travel is not glam and definately stressful. Very nice being able to stay in the Sheraton Edinburgh, cos they have a good gym and nice food (all expenses paid). The work is going well and definately interesting, so much so that I have now asked to be transfered permanently from Audit into Consulting.

Trying to get fitter as well. I have signed up for a triathlon and a sponsored bike ride, so need to get some training in. First step this week was going out for a run in Edinburgh with work colleagues. Big mistake. They go running all the time (one guy has a GPS running computer!) and they took me on a nightmare route that's mostly uphill. Needless to say I couldn't hack it, the legs were burning up and I had to turn back halfway up the hill. Quite pleased to have done 5km, but at time of writing (2 days later) I am still walking like I have two wooden legs.

On top of that Ellen and I have bought mountain bikes. Went to the New Forest with Rong and Kim and loved it so much that we all ended up buying bikes! Going to try out some routes around London and do some weekends away. Turns out that Vicks, JTR, Dave, Kate, Bonnie and Georgina are all bikers too so could be a fun weekend away.

I have been accused of turning into a new age hippy.

Anything else going on? Well everyone seems to be getting into Poker a lot which is cool. hit my first birdie at Golf last week. Must be getting old(er) as I prefer bowling, golf and cards to bars and clubbing. Ah well... who cares?

Long time, no blog

Oh dear.

I guess I have fallen into the age old (well all of 2 years or so that blogs have been going anyway) problem of starting a Blog, writing religiously for a bit, then neglecting it.

Mnd you I guess I can be proud that I did keep it going for as long as I did, but it took a sideswipe from another Blogger who is still writing to highlight my lack of dedication.

Ths source of the issue is fairly obvious I guess. Whilst on travels, I have time (and more things to write about) then when I come back it's work time and the Blog gets neglected. I think most of my "interesting" things to write about end up on the daily e-mail banter, therefore no material left for the Blog.

Time for that to change though. The few who read this Blog, have probably left anyway, but on the offchance that they come back, I will vow to write a little more often.